A/N: Hey y'all. This story isn't dead. In fact, thanks to musicnutftw hounding me and all your wonderful reviews, I outlined through chapter 12 loosely. Seriously, thank you all for reading. I didn't expect people to like this story as much as they do and it really warms my heart.
Have a chapter full of Grams and Kurama bonding and my new fave brotp: Hiei and Ashland. By the way, the songs at the end of the chapter are Dancing Queen by Abba and I Wear My Sunglasses at Night by Corey Hart. In that order.
Next chapter we will see what Victoria is up to and why she didn't want to go.
Hiei and Kurama stared at Grams for a few seconds after the door clicked closed behind Victoria. Kurama smiled gently while Hiei's eyes slowly began to narrow. Grams smiled back at them.
"I'm not dealing with this." Hiei announced with a huff before marching toward the stairs.
"Hiei, where are you going?" Kurama demanded, shooting him a stern look.
"To bed. Call me when the old woman leaves. I don't want to be around her." Despite his words and the sneer he wanted to wear, Hiei kept his voice and face impassive. With a considering glance he looked over Grams once more then bolted up the stairs.
"That one doesn't care for me much, hmm?" Grams watched him go and then shook her head. "If he wasn't such a rude little shit we would have gotten off on a better foot."
Kurama balked, then turned his attention back to the old woman who sauntered passed him into the kitchen. Did she just call Hiei a…a little shit? He stared after her.
"Be a darling and get me the bottle from the cabinet above the refrigerator please." She gestured toward what she wanted and Kurama followed her polite request with a nod of his head. "Thank you honey. You're a good boy."
She opened the hefty bottle of bourbon and poured two glasses, handing one to him, her blue eyes twinkling.
"I'll admit that I didn't much care for your cartoon." Grams expressed with a laugh. "I thought Victoria was just a little off for caring so much about some fictional boys. She was obsessed with y'all. Had all your little comic books. Had stuffed animals of you she slept with. Posters and all the things obsessed teenage girls get. But I didn't see the appeal."
"Is that so?" Kurama smirked then. "I'll admit, Victoria has been pretty vague with how much she cared about these fictional boys."
"She's shy that way." Grams nodded with a grin. "Anyhow, why don't you sit down and explain it to me. She's tried through the years but she gets so ramped up it's like listening to an auctioneer reading the bible."
"Oh where to start?" Kurama sipped the bourbon and made a face.
"It's the good stuff. She thinks I don't know where she hides it but she's too much my granddaughter not to think like me. I keep mine in the laundry room behind the sewing kit because I know my husband will never find it." Grams laughed. She led him out to the back porch and took one of the rocking chairs. "Why don't you sit and start by telling me about yourself. Do you have a family? Are you married? Did you go to school?"
Kurama pondered where to start for a moment and then guessed it didn't matter much. Grams would eventually get all the information she wanted if she chose to seek it out. After all, his life was mostly on display in this world. All it would take would be a quick Google search or a trip to a bookstore.
"I guess, if we're going to start with me then I should tell you about my mother." Kurama smiled softly, remembering her. Then he frowned. He hoped she wasn't too worried about his disappearance. How much time had passed in his world? He had moved away from home, to a different city for his step-father's company, but he still visited as often as he could. Surely the company would have reported his absence.
He realized then that he very well could have already lost his job. His mother was likely sick with worry and his friends might have assumed the worst.
Oh no.
Hiei.
Mukuro would be furious that he went missing. She would have sent her best men out to find him. And if she assumes he's dead that means that he'll have lost his post with her. Then Hiei will be the furious one.
They had to get back and soon.
An agitated Hiei was enough of a problem to deal with on its own. But a worried mother?
That he could not abide.
"She'll know you're safe." Grams pulled him from his thoughts with a gentle touch to the back of his clenched fist, where it rested on his leg. "Mothers have a way. We can feel it in our hearts when our babies need us and when they are okay."
Kurama relaxed some hearing that. "My mother isn't very healthy, you understand. I'm worried the stress of me not being there will make her ill again."
"Tell me about her."
And he did. Wit flourish and without hesitation, Kurama explained his human life to this wise old woman he barely knew. He enjoyed it, actually, getting to weave the tale of his mother and her love to someone. During his story Grams merely drank her bourbon and nodded, listening. When he got stuck she'd ask him just the right question to keep him talking.
The sun faded, the moon rose and they rocked in their chairs like old friends while the moths hit the porch light and the fish jumped in the lake.
Hiei glowered behind his sunglasses. Crushing his empty can of beer he tossed it behind him on the boat and pulled another from the dredges of the cooler beside him. The ice was beginning to get watery so he slammed the white lid closed on the large blue Coleman and popped the tab of the new can.
"Come inside, Hiei." Kurama ordered with a sigh, standing on the deck with his arms crossed and foot tapping.
Hiei refused to look at him. Kurama was a traitor. He was as good as dead to him. Siding with that awful old woman and chatting it up until the early hours of the morning with her. Like they were friends. He had no time for traitorous foxes so he kept his back to the redhead and swirled his feet in the green water of the lake, his legs hanging over the side of the pontoon.
"You're being obstinate." Kurama declared.
Hiei flipped him off over his shoulder.
"Fine. Starve." The redhead marched away with his hands in the air.
Hiei glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Starve? As if he hadn't had the foresight to steal provisions. He smirked. Kurama was underestimating him. Again. He had a bag full of snacks. Chips. Deli meat. Those little crème filled cookies he liked so much.
Fuck. He'd forgotten milk.
Goddammit.
Anyway, there was a whole lake full of food anyway. Not mention he could still catch those little lizards. Victoria wasn't here to wail about it now. He sipped his beer. He could just say on the boat until she got back. Then he could punch her for leaving them with that woman. Maybe she'd make it up to him by taking him out on the lake?
"Uncle Hiei!"
The screech of his name turned Hiei's head along with the sound of small feet pounding against wood. All he saw was a blur of blonde curls and the yellow of her dress before he was attacked. The weight of the girl nearly toppled him off the side of the boat and into the depths of the lake waiting to consume him. He had to brace himself against the metal railing.
Ashland didn't seem to notice his momentary panic or that she'd nearly killed him. Her arms around his throat tightened and she shook side to side with a laugh as she hugged him from behind.
Again, he wondered how the child could be so frail and so strong at the same time. She was cutting off his oxygen supply. He had to pry her arms off of him to catch his breath then assess her with a cool frown. What the hell was she doing here anyway?
Wait.
Did this mean that little boy had attacked her again? Hiei would kill him. He bared his teeth at the thought. He had told her to come to him if she needed and here she was. That must mean she needed him.
"Look! Momma showed me how to talk to you!" Ashland started to move her hands to sign Hello Uncle Hiei. Let's play!
Hiei stared at her bright smile, her chest puffed up with obvious pride at this accomplishment. She wanted to play? That was all?
"Why are you on the boat?" She tipped her head and looked around the pontoon. Then she spotted his bag of food, the cooler and his pile of sunscreen. "Did you run away from home Uncle Hiei?"
Hiei shrugged.
"I'll run away too!" She nodded and stomped her foot. "We'll run away together! I ran away from home once but then I got scared and came back. But with you I won't be scared!"
Hiei nodded then, smirking. Of course she wouldn't be. He was far scarier than anything else they could come across. He patted the space next to him and Ashland sat down, taking off her little strappy white sandals to dip her feet in the lake like he did. She had to sit much closer to the edge than he did and Hiei frowned.
Can you swim? He signed to her and she merely stared.
So much for being able to talk to him, he thought. Then he sighed. He guessed it was fine as long as he was right there. Even if she couldn't swim, he could just keep her from falling into the water. Easy.
Or so he thought.
The third time Ashland leaned forward to stare into the water, Hiei gave up. His heart hammered in his chest, an uncomfortable and unusual sensation he despised. The worry that the girl was going to topple headfirst into the water and drown was too much for him. He pulled his legs from the water and grabbed her too.
"Do you want to go fishing? I know where Tia keeps the poles." Ashland held Hiei's hand as they walked to the seats under the awning on the boat. She didn't even wait for him to respond before bounding from the boat, once again nearly killing the man with panic as she leapt to the pier.
Children were terrible. How did anyone get anything done with them around?
When she didn't return immediately Hiei went looking for her, finding her rooting through the shed. Her eyes lit up when she saw him and immediately she barked orders. Get this. Grab that. We need those chairs. Uncle Hiei. Uncle Hiei. Uncle Hiei.
Just to get her to shut up he did what she told him. Then she trotted back to the pier with a large black box in both her tiny hands. She set it down and helped him set up the fold out chairs. Then through careful instruction and demonstration, Ashland showed Hiei how to pull the line through the fishing pole.
"Pawpaw showed me how." She explained, chattering on as usual. "Now we gotta get the hook on. Which one do you want to use? I like this one because it has sparkles."
Hiei watched her pick out her lure. Then she kept searching for another one and after a few seconds she cried out and pouted, a drop of blood on her finger from pricking herself. Tears gathered in her eyes and she sniffled.
Oh no. Not that sound. Not again. He couldn't take the shrill screech of her tears. Hiei frantically grabbed her hand and wiped the blood away.
"You gotta kiss it to make it better!" Ashland cried.
Hiei stared at her, incredulous. How the fuck was kissing it going to do anything?
"Un-uncle Hiei! Kiss it!" She demanded and started to cry harder.
Hiei rolled his eyes. He held up his hand to stop her tearful nonsense and then pressed is lips to the barely-present wound. With a dull expression he signed Happy?
Ashland stifled her tears and nodded then almost as if nothing happened, once she'd wiped the wet streaks from her face, she went back to showing him now to tie on a lure.
Honestly, children were the worst. He should have just let her suffer. He focused on threading the eye of the lure she'd presented to him, one similar to her own so they could match. In his concentration on his fishing line, he pricked himself on the damn hook. Jerking his hand back he grunted with annoyance. Sucking the drop of blood away he figured he'd finished all the first aid he needed so he went back to work.
But small hands grabbed him and attentive eyes scanned his minor injury with the intensity of a trained medic. Ashland placed a small, gentle kiss to his finger and then beamed at him with a million-watt smile.
Hiei stared at her and then felt some heat rising in his face.
"All better!" She announced as she released him, her procedure completed. Hiei watched her joyfully climb into her foldout chair and situate herself, the fishing pole taller than she was held in her small hands.
Following her lead, Hiei took the other seat.
"When I fish with pawpaw, he falls asleep." Ashland told him after several minutes of quiet. "But you're not that old yet, so you probably won't."
Hiei smirked. No. He wouldn't. It had less to with his age and more to do with not trusting the child to keep herself alive surrounded by fishing hooks and the lake. Plus whatever lurked beneath the surface that they were fishing for. Pretty quickly Hiei noticed his arms starting to heat up so he went and grabbed his sunscreen, reapplying. With a frown he realized that Ashland didn't appear to be wearing any.
Children were the worst. Too fragile. But their parents? Hmph. Ridiculous amounts of ineptitude.
He pointedly ignored Ashland's complaints as he slathered her bare arms, neck, neck and feet with the creamy white substance. Then he rubbed it into her cheeks and across her forehead and nose. Satisfied, he put the bottle between them and picked up his pole, a fresh beer in the net cup holder in the arm of his chair.
"Is it really okay to leave them out there together? Hiei has never had much patience for children." Kurama watched through the screen door as the two figures on the pier sat in their chairs and held their fishing poles.
"She's alright." Grams assured him, making lemonade in the kitchen.
"If you're sure." Kurama frowned. Grams seemed to certain but he knew Hiei. One wrong word or move and that little girl could very well be shoved into the lake.
"I am." Grams nodded. "Now try this. Does it need anything?"
She poured a small glass of lemonade for him to sample. Kurama drank it with a look of concentration. Then he made a puckered face.
"Perhaps just a touch more sugar." He suggested gently, setting the unfinished glass on the counter.
"You're right." She nodded. Then with a grin added. "It's amazing how even just a little bit of sweetness can turn something sour into something palatable."
Kurama sensed, from her tone and smile, that they weren't talking about the lemonade at all. He glanced toward Hiei and Ashland once more.
Apparently children required more than sunscreen and chips to live on. They needed things like water and to go potty. Suggesting they pee in the lake apparently wasn't an option either.
"Now you gotta wash your hands." Ashland scolded Hiei as he sat back down. He picked up his beer with a raised eyebrow and drank it. "That's gross Uncle Hiei! You're going to get germs."
In the end he found himself alone on the pier as the little girl rushed inside to use the bathroom. The sun had started to set anyway and the bugs were becoming a nuisance. They hadn't caught any fish either, a total waste of time. But he continued to wait. When Ashland didn't return he grumbled and told himself that he could finally relax. It was quiet.
Then he tossed all the fishing gear onto the boat and headed for the house.
Grams immediately shoved a glass of lemonade into his hands once he entered the kitchen through the backdoor. Then she ushered him to sit at the counter next to Ashland, who was half-done with a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. The same meal appeared before Hiei and he felt his stomach rumble. With a glare, he dug in.
"You want seconds?" Grams asked him gently while Kurama watched from Ashland's other side.
Yes. Hiei signed. Barely looked up from his plate. He hadn't really eaten since the burgers the day before.
"Yes please." Grams held the next serving just out of reach for him until Hiei begrudgingly lost their battle of wills and signed please. She offered him twice as much food for his effort.
"You're a good boy, Hiei."
Her words made him scowl.
A good boy? He had killed hundreds. He was a general in the most powerful military force in all of Makai. He was a bandit and a demon.
A good boy.
Fucking ridiculous.
Hiei still had on his sunglasses, which shifted on his face as he bobbed his head. He spun around in time with Ashland as she danced. He mimicked her every move with expert precision given to him by years of combat training and sparring. Dancing was easy compared with trying to keep up with Mukuro. And even that had become easier over the years.
A five-year-old posed no challenge to him.
Not until she that weird leg thing. What the hell was that? Hiei tried to copy her and frowned. He tapped her head pointedly, raised an eyebrow and signed Help. He demonstrated his inability and she laughed and moved his leg for him. After a few tries he got it and nodded and they went back to it.
"Your funny Uncle Hiei!" Ashland giggled.
I'll show you funny, you little brat. Hiei scooped her up and spun around too fast, stumbling in his inebriation.
Kurama lunged for the girl but Grams stopped him with a single touch. She was grinning and Ashland laughed so he pulled back and went back to recording the scene on his phone.
Hiei threw the child over his back, holding onto her ankles over his shoulders. He grinned and moved his shoulders back and forth listening to her squeal. Setting her back down gingerly as the song changed he waited for her to show him how to move to his one.
"I need sunglasses." Ashland demanded hands on her hips. Hiei nodded and retrieved a pair from a kitchen drawer for her. "Perfect! Like this. Slide to the side and move your shoulders."
She demonstrated as she spoke. A slide to the left, a shimmy of her shoulders and then she took Hiei's hands and started moving them as she moved her feet.
"This song is like you Uncle Hiei! Because you always have on sunglasses too!" She declared and Hiei nodded.
Hiei smirked at her and nodded.
"I hope Victoria likes this update. I wonder how she's doing." Kurama sent off the video clips to their missing hostess with a wry smile. "Ashland is a good dancer."
"She's taking classes." Grams nodded. "She's a natural teacher. Hiei has a surprising amount of rhythm in his soul. The boy can move."
"Fighting isn't so different from dancing." Kurama shrugged. "Though I think a different Hiei might refuse to acknowledge that."
Grams just smiled. Perhaps Kurama was right. Maybe in a different time or place, the man before her would have loathed dancing with a small child. He gave off the vibe of a loner, definitely. A hard man. But even the toughest men she met knew that when a little girl handed you a play phone, you pretended to answer it.
"Looks like he just needed to have an excuse to finally relax." Grams voiced with humor. "Living without all that great power of his has forced him to adapt. Sometimes, we lose everything to show us what we'd actually miss."
Kurama eyed her and then turned back to Hiei. It brought an interesting question into his mind.
When they got back, would Hiei be the same demon as before? Would he be the same?
Would either of them even want to give up who they were becoming?
He was so lost in thought he didn't notice the way Grams looked at him, her eyes shimmering with knowledge and a smile that held answers he'd never get to hear. Answers he needed to find out for himself.
